TWO KINGSLEY CHURCHES

 

On Tuesday I targeted three churches by bus. Sadly I had to call time on my stamina after the first two. All the same it was a great little adventure to the village of Kingsley.

All Saints is the currently active church, a Victorian replacement for St Nicholas, just a couple of bus stops away. The old church has remnants of medieval work at the East and West ends but the main body is a strange brick concoction from the Georgian period. The doors were locked.

 

The new church was open and although they employ different materials both inside and out are admirable examples of high Victorian polychrome. Generally speaking it's in excellent condition, but I suspect the exterior was originally selectively limewashed, leaving just the bands of dark stone exposed in contrast with the sparkling white of the lime.

It's a theory.

 

 

The details below are from the two churches I visited this week, both in Kingsley, Hampshire.

The green tunnel approach is quite common for these small village churches set back a little way from the road. Get off the bus and head up this enchanting side road. Lots to see. I even came across a dead rabbit in the hedgerow.

Typical village pub, lychgate from Victorian times. Some splendid doorways that I would love to tackle in Revit. Who knows when? Wonky grave stones with moss and lichen. How picturesque is that?

 

I had to look up lychgate to check if it's two words or one. In the process I discovered it means corpse gate, a symbolic reference to the resurrection when people will rise from the graveyard around the church to face the day of judgment.

Whether you are a believer or not it's a powerful story. Taken as a metaphor, the day of judgment reminds me to take my life seriously, to reflect on the positive and negative aspects of my journey, and to aim upwards with the time I have left.

Do we have those powerful moving stories to guide us through the modern world as the builders of these ancient churches did? Maybe AI can think a couple up for us... 👀

 

As sometimes happens when travelling, I got my images mixed up. No biggie, but here is the rabbit mentioned in my last post, and the village pub, and the green tunnel.

There is also a lychgate, not wonky this time, but it has a roof and seats, which are often associated with the term. The image squares I shared yesterday featured a rather splendid understated war memorial, one of several superb trees in the church garden at Kingsley All Saints. Plus an interesting buttress: very regular in all its edges, but a bit wonky in the middle.

 

The second set of squares shown here features both interior and exterior details from All Saints, Kingsley. Of course I love the casual irregularity of so much medieval work, the sense of evolution over time. But there is also something rather thrilling about the high Victorian Gothic with its crisp detailing and polychromy. Perhaps it's easier to imagine a period closer in time to ours, to inhabit the soul of a Gothic Revival architect.

That was a great day. A tiring day, but manageable and another solid step forward in my work on Hampshire Churches. Another day in my acclimatisation to UK life. I'm so lucky to be able to do this transition in a gradual, phased way. The prodigal son returning after 45 years? Yes and no.

It's a process.